Mr. Harris's Panther Blog

2010-01-12T12:11:00.000-08:00

Hello from your Cokeville Schools,

I hope that everyone is enjoying a pleasant (though dry) winter season. I am happy that many of you have included attending our High School and Jr. High School events on your list of winter activities. It is exciting to have fans in our gym to cheer on our teams. I thank all of you for supporting the kids. It is my intention to do what I can to ensure that viewing Cokeville activities remains a safe and enjoyable experience for all. In order to do this, I am requesting everyone’s assistance in monitoring children’s play in the school’s hallways and commons during events. Activities that have the potential to result in injury to a child, or damage to the building cannot be allowed. In an attempt to limit the threat of injury and damage to the building, school personnel have been instructed to abide the following procedure when witnessing behaviors in the hallway that are inappropriate.

1.The children participating in potentially dangerous or damaging activities will be asked to stop the activity.
2.If a child continues to engage in inappropriate activities, they will be asked to go and sit with their parents.
3.In the event that the activity continues after the second contact, the school employee will escort the child to their parent. Children who do not have a parent at the activity will be sent home from the activity.

Please know that it is not my intention to make anyone feel unwelcome at our school’s activities. These measures are simply being put in place to help ensure that our activities continue to be a safe and enjoyable experience for all.

Thank you for your anticipated cooperation and continued support.

2009-12-11T09:57:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas,
This is truly the best time of the year. I hope that all of you enjoy a very safe Holiday Season.
We have many exciting events scheduled for the month of December. I invite each of you to come and participate in these events with us.
Please be aware that we will begin our Christmas break with a noon dismissal on December 22. School will be back in session on January 4th, 2010.
Best wishes for a joyous Holiday Season.

2009-11-16T09:09:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope that November has found you healthy and well.
November is a busy month for us in the Cokeville schools. It is a time of transition from our Fall to Winter activities. I am very proud of the way our Volleyball and Football teams represented our school and community. I fully expect that our Winter experience will be just as positive.
I would like to invite everyone to attend our Fall musical this Friday and Saturday. The kids have been working hard and I am sure that the show will be awesome.
I would also like to invite everyone to attend our parent-teacher conferences this Friday. These conferences are a great time to meet with your child's teacher and clarify their academic progress to date. I also will be available throughout the day if you would like to meet with me. Feel free to call and set up a time, or just drop in. I will be happy to meet with you.
Thank you for your interest in our schools.

2009-10-07T08:16:00.001-07:00

Greetings all,
I hope that everyone is feeling fine during this "age of the flu." As I am sure that you are aware, the Swine Flu has found its way to our community. Please be sure to take every precaution to protect yourself and your children from this and other illness. The number one prevention is the frequent washing of your hands. Also, we would ask for your assistance in limiting the exposure to illness by keeping your child home from school if they are running a fever or are exhibiting other flu symptoms. Working together I am sure that we can limit the effect that the flu season will have on our community.

2009-09-22T05:28:00.001-07:00

Happy Homecoming!!

It is always exciting to be a Panther Fan, but somehow, Homecoming Week makes it that much better. I would like to invite everyone to come out and be a part of our celebrations. I am confidant that our students will represent our community well and make us all proud.
For your information, we will be following the traditional homecoming schedule that includes a bonfire pep rally Thursday night, a program and parade Friday morning (9:00 and 11:00), followed by a 1:00 football game and volleyball matches at 4,5, & 6:00. There will be plenty of good times for all.
For your information, the elementary school students will be released at 12:45 on Friday. If your child is a bus student and you wish to have them remain in town for the ball game please send them with a note. Otherwise, we will be sending them home on the bus. The High School will be released at 12:50.
Have a GREAT HOMECOMING!

2009-09-04T10:07:00.000-07:00

Greetings Panther fans,
Last night I had the opportunity of meeting with a few of you to discuss our PAWS assessment. We discussed both why we administer the PAWS and how we use the assessment results. I really appreciated hearing your comments and suggestions.
As you may be aware, President Obama will be presenting a 20-Minute address to the Nation’s school children on September 8th at 10:00 am. It is our intention to make this address available to our students. If you as a parent prefer that your child not participate in this event, please let the school know by sending a note with your child. We will be happy to provide an alternative activity for your child during that time.
Just as a reminder, due to the Labor Day Holiday, September 11 (Friday) is a scheduled school day.
I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Labor Day weekend.
Mr. Harris

2009-08-31T07:10:00.000-07:00

Well, the first week of the 2009-10 school year has come and gone. I hope that the beginning of school was a smooth and pleasant experience for you and your children.

Last week you should have received a copy of your child’s PAWS results in the mail along with an interpretive guide to help you understand the results. As I stated in that communication, overall, I am pleased with our student’s performance on this assessment. Hopefully you are pleased with your individual child’s results.

In an attempt to help you as a parent better understand how your child performed on the PAWS assessment, the purpose of the PAWS assessment, and how the assessment results are used by the school, I will be hosting a short informational parent meeting at 5:30 pm on the evening of September 3rd in the CHS auditorium. Anyone who would like assistance in understanding their child’s results or has questions about our state / district assessment system is invited to come. I will do my best to answer your questions / concerns.

Following this informational meeting, there will be a nomination meeting for a Cokeville Advisory Board. The purpose of this board will be to provide input for our District School Board. I believe that this Advisory Board has the potential to be a very positive thing for our schools and community. I would encourage everyone with a stake in our schools to attend, become aware, and involved in this process.

Thank you for the opportunity of working with your children.

Best Regards,

K. Harris
Well, the first week of the 2009-10 school year has come and gone. I hope that the beginning of school was a smooth and pleasant experience for you and your children.

Last week you should have received a copy of your child’s PAWS results in the mail along with an interpretive guide to help you understand the results. As I stated in that communication, overall, I am pleased with our student’s performance on this assessment. Hopefully you are pleased with your individual child’s results.

In an attempt to help you as a parent better understand how your child performed on the PAWS assessment, the purpose of the PAWS assessment, and how the assessment results are used by the school, I will be hosting a short informational parent meeting at 5:30 pm on the evening of September 3rd in the CHS auditorium. Anyone who would like assistance in understanding their child’s results or has questions about our state / district assessment system is invited to come. I will do my best to answer your questions / concerns.

Following this informational meeting, there will be a nomination meeting for a Cokeville Advisory Board. The purpose of this board will be to provide input for our District School Board. I believe that this Advisory Board has the potential to be a very positive thing for our schools and community. I would encourage everyone with a stake in our schools to attend, become aware, and involved in this process.

Thank you for the opportunity of working with your children.

Best Regards,

K. Harris

2009-08-26T06:02:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the 2009-10 school year.
If there is any truth to the old saying “Time flies when you are having fun,” then this past summer must have been a blast because the time sure flew by!
It is nice to have the new year up and running. The maintenance and custodial staff did a great job of preparing our buildings for the coming year. Our teachers are prepared to provide wonderful learning opportunities for all students. It is exciting to see our mission of “Making Everyone Better For Life” put into action every day.
As always, our coaching staffs have their teams and squads up and running for the coming Fall season. I appreciate the dedicated service that each of these individuals puts forward for our kids.
It was a pleasure meeting with all of you who attended our Back-to School Night at CES. As always, your willingness to be involved in our school is greatly appreciated.
For everyone’s information, there will be a meeting on September 3rd to make nominations to serve on a Cokeville advisory board. The purpose of the board is to provide feedback to the school board. It would be a great opportunity for interested people to have a positive impact on our school district.
Finally, with the start of the school year, I would like to invite anyone who has questions or concerns about our schools to contact me. I am always willing to discuss any issue that I can with you.
Thank you for your continued interest in our schools. I believe that 2009-10 will be our best year ever.

2009-05-19T10:08:00.000-07:00

Greetings,
As our school year winds down, I would like to take a moment and let eveyone know about some upcoming events. Mr. Willie's Jr. High music students will be entertaining our community on May 19th and 20th. Please plan on coming and enjoying the talents of our students. It has been exciting to have Mr. Willie as a part of our staff this year. He has done an outstanding job.
May 21-23, our track athletes will be in Casper representing our school at the state track tournament. Coach Teichert and Coach Toomer have once again done a great job of preparing our students for this competition. I am sure that our students will make us very proud.
May 28 is our CHS graduation. It has been a pleasure working with this fine Senior class. They will be missed. I wish them luck in their respective futures.
On May 29th, we will be departing with our Junior and Senior classes for Washington D.C. I am very excited about sharing this opportunity with them.
Also, please be aware that the 29th will be the last day of school. Students will be released from CHS at 10:15 am and from CES at 10:30 am.
Finally, I hope that everyone has a safe and enjoyable summer break. I along with many of our staff members, are scheduled to attend numerous conferences this summer. I look forward to implementing the lessons that we will learn next year. Until then, best regards.

2009-04-06T08:51:00.000-07:00

Greetings,
I wanted to take a moment and update everyone on a few exciting happenings that are coming up. First, I want to extend an invitation to everyone to come and participate in our 2nd annual “Principal Chat.” The principal chat is simply an open forum where I meet with the public and listen to any comments, questions or concerns that you might have. This year’s chat is scheduled for Wednesday, April 15th at 6:45 pm. (Just prior to the music concert.) Please plan on attending, enjoying some cookies, and sharing your insights.
As you may have heard, our Elementary students have met their reading goal for the year. This is a great accomplishment. Because of this accomplishment, we are excited to announce that we will be bussing all of our students to Provo canyon to take a ride on the Heber Valley Railroad. (Heber Creeper) This big event will take place on April 30th. In order to get there on time, we will need to leave the school at 7:45 am. We ask for your assistance in making sure that your children are at the school prior to 7:45 on that day.
Another big event that is coming up is a trip to Washington D.C. for our 11th and 12th grade students. I am very excited about wonderful experience that this promises to be for these students. The students are scheduled to depart on May 29th and return on June 2nd (11 grade) and June 3rd (12th grade.) Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Thank-you for your interest in, and your continued support of, our schools.

2009-03-31T09:23:00.000-07:00

Hello all,
Thank you for taking the time to check in. I know that everyone is very busy. Life has been busy in our schools as well. As you know, we are in the process of finishing up our state mandated PAWS testing. I would like to thank all of you who have cooperated so well with our schools in making our testing experience a success. I appreciate those students who gave their best effort on the many tests that they were asked to take. I know that it has been a long process.
As we look forward to April, there are many activities scheduled. Please take a moment to check our website at www.cokeville.com for a calendar of events.
As always, thank you for your continued support. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to post a comment on this site or contact me directly. I am very happy to discuss any topic of concern that you might have.

2009-02-11T08:55:00.000-08:00

Greetings from your Cokeville Schools,
What an exciting time to be a Panther. Our CHS students are preparing to represent our school at the District and State levels in numerous athletic and academic areas. Our Jr. High students are finishing up very successful athletic seasons as well. On Feb. 18th and 25th, our CES and CJHS students will be participating in the District spelling bee in Star Valley. I am very appreciative of the dedicated teachers and coaches who work so hard to provide quality programs and experiences for our students.
For your long term planning convenience, we have posted the 2009-10 school calendar on our website. If you would like to access next years calendar, go to www.cokeville.com and click on the 2009-10 calendar quick link.
I hope all of you have had the opportunity to watch the “Principal Chat” on Channel 39. I was very impressed with the quality of questions that the students came up with, the interview skills demonstrated by Kebra, and the quality of the production by Mr. Thompson’s students. I plan on conducting similar interviews in the future. If you have any questions that you would like me to address in future broadcasts, please submit them to Mr. Thompson or me. Hopefully we can use this format to improve our communication with all of you.
Thank you for your continued interest and support of our schools.

2009-01-30T07:20:00.000-08:00

Greetings from your Cokeville Schools,
I can't believe that February is here. Time sure does fly when you are having fun!!
January was a busy month. I am very proud of our 3 students (Megan Cook, Derrick Moody, and Andrew Petersen) who represented our school at the State Honor Choir. We truly are blessed with the finest students.
Recently I returned from a trip to Washington D.C. where I attended the Model School Symposium with Mrs. Rigby, Mr. Warner, and Mr. Hatch. It was great to rub shoulders with educators from the highest performing schools in the nation. It was also great knowing that though we are small in size, our Cokeville schools provide our students with as good of an education as they would receive anywhere.
As always, February promises to be a busy month. The Jr. and Sr. High winter athletics will all be wrapping up heir respective seasons this month. I am sure that our community will be well represented. I would like to offer a heartfelt thank you to our coaches and A.D. for all of the time that they put in on behalf of our children.
As always, thank you for your interest in our schools. Please know that I will be doing my best to play my part in fulfilling our mission of "Making Everyone Better For Life."
K. Harris, Principal, Cokeville Schools

2009-01-03T07:11:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
I hope that all of you enjoyed your holiday as much as I did. I love the opportunity that each new year brings to set goals for myself. This new year is no exception. With any luck, I will be a better person in 2009.
Here are a couple of items of interest for you that are coming up in January. The end of the 1st semester for CHS is January 13th. Please encourage your students to work with their respective teachers to ensure that their grades are where they want them to be.
On Thursday, January 8th, we will be hosting School Board meeting in the CHS library. Please feel free to attend and watch our elected officials at work. Feel free to contact me if you would like a copy of the agenda in advance.
We will be administering the MAP assessment to all 1st-10th grade students beginning on January 12th. The MAP assessment measures how our students are doing in the areas of Math, Reading, and Language Arts. It generally takes us about 2 weeks to get everyone assessed. We use the results of this assessment to identify areas where our students collectively, or individually, may be struggling. If you are interested in your child's results, please feel free to contact me.
With any luck, we might get some snow and begin our winter sports program. The program is scheduled to start January 9th. We will keep you updated as information becomes available to us. If any of you know any good snow dances, let 'em rip!
As always, thank you for your continued interest in our schools!

2008-12-22T06:26:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!!
I wanted to take a moment and congratulate Mr. Willie and our music students on a fine Christmas concert. Everything was top notch and wonderfully done.
I invite everyone to attend the Elementary program on Dec. 22. I am sure that we are all in for a treat.
One item for you to possibly consider coming up in January is our District Board Meeting. It will be held in the Cokeville High School library on January 8th. Everyone is invited to attend and listen to the procedings of the Board.
Thank you for supporting our schools. I hope that all of you have a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.

2008-12-06T11:58:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Everyone,
In my opinion, this is truly the best time of the year. I hope that you all enjoy preparing for the holidays as much as I do.
We have many activities scheduled for the month of December for the students of both schools. If you have any questions about a date or time of an activity, please take a moment and look over the calendar that you should have received last week, or feel free to contact Tina or Lynne. They would be happy to get you another copy.
As you are aware, we are continuing to have problems with the phones at the elementary. We have been working with district resources, as well as two phone companies, to try and get things fixed. Until we can get things figured out, if you have a true emergency and are unable to get through to the elementary school, you can call the high school and we can transfer the call. For Lynne's sake, I ask that you not use this option unless absolutely necessary :).
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I do appreciate your interest in our schools.

Merry Christmas!
Mr. Harris

2008-11-17T13:10:00.000-08:00

Hello Panther Fans,
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope that you are all enjoying the beautiful Fall weather.
I recently returned from an exciting week in Yellowstone National Park where I was able to spend some time with our 6th grade students. What a wonderful experience that was. I would like to thank our students for representing our school so well. I would also like to recognize the efforts of Mrs. Warner in pulling off such a big event. Our students are fortunate to have such a talented and dedicated teacher. I would also like to express a special Thank-You to the parent volunteers that spent the week assisting our students. It is because of the efforts of all of these fine people that our students got to experience one of the most wonderful places on earth.
At this time I would also like to remind everyone that we will be hosting parent teacher conferences this Friday (11/21/08) from 8:00 am - 12:00 pm at CHS, and at the individually appointed times at CES. If these times do not work for you, please contact your child's teacher and we will arrange a different time for you. If I can be of assistance, or if you wish to meet with me, please let me know. I hope that everyone is able to come and visit with us.
Thank you again for your continued interest in our school.
Keith Harris, Principal, Cokeville Schools
"Making Everyone Better For Life"

2008-11-06T11:24:00.000-08:00

Greetings from your Cokeville Schools:

I am sure that most of you would agree, it is a great time to be a Panther, or Panther Fan. Congratulations to our volleyball team; 2008 STATE CAMPIONS!! It does feel good to be #1!! Our football team is doing a great job of representing our school as well. Good luck to them as they complete their run through the playoffs. I am confident that they will perform well.
Next week, (Nov. 10th - 14th) our 6th graders will be at Yellowstone National Park. This is a great experience for them. Again, I am confident that our students will represent our school and community well. I am so proud of their efforts, in partnership with the PTO , in pulling off a very successful Halloween carnival.
I would like to congratulate Mr. Willie and his fine students on a wonderful Fall concert. We would also like to recognize the students who represented our school at all-state choir, and jr. high music clincs. Again, our student's performances represent a source of pride for all of us.
These are just a few examples that remind me of how fortunate I am to live and work here in Cokeville. Thank you for your continued support of our schools.

2008-10-21T08:08:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Cokeville Principal’s blog.
This week marks the mid-semester point. I am amazed at how fast the year is flying by. I am also very pleased with how the year is going. As we ran the mid-semester grade report, less than 3% of our students grades 7-12 are receiving a failing mark. None of our 7-12 students are receiving more than one failing mark. What a fine accomplishment this is for our students and the teachers who work with them.
I would like to take a moment and address a concern that has been brought to my attention. A short time back, we sent a letter to the homes of next year’s Kindergarten students. I understand that this letter has caused some concern. Please allow me to clear up the intent of this letter. It was our sole intention to provide some helpful suggestions for helping incoming Kindergarten students with the transition into school. The suggestions offered were never meant to be presented as admission criteria. We simply attempted to answer the question that is often asked: What can I do to prepare my child for the start of school? I sincerely apologize for any stress or concern that this letter may have caused. I am convinced that the parents in our community are the best anywhere.
Thank you for your continued interest in our schools.

2008-10-08T05:15:00.000-07:00

Good day Panther Fans,

Thank you for taking the time to visit this site, and for your interest in our school. Our school year is going well. I am proud of all of the good things that our students are accomplishing both in the classroom, and in extracurricular activities. We just completed our third bi-monthly grade check on students involved in CHS extracurricular activities and I am pleased to report that we only had one failing mark. This mark was quickly addressed and remedied. Two weeks ago we did not have a single failing grade among all of our students who are involved in an extracurricular activity.
At CHS, we are doing something new this year in our attempt to fulfill our mission of “Making Everyone Better For Life.” Every student and teacher has been assigned to an advisory group. These groups meet twice a month to review student grades, schedules, or any concerns that a student might have. These advisors are available to assist and mentor the students in their group. They are also available to assist parents with questions or concerns as well. If you do not know who your child’s advisor is, or have questions about the program, please feel free to contact me. I would be happy to assist you.
Thank you again for your interest in our schools.

Mr. Harris

Back to School 08-09

2008-08-18T15:50:00.001-07:00